# Cliff Richard? INDIAN! and other ethnic/minority celebrity appropriations **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 19, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920 "2005-06-19T15:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/1 "2005-06-19T15:30:10Z")
Brits especially will be familiar with the recurring skit in ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ where the Indian Dad lists celebrities and claims they are Indian. Some, like Cliff Richard and Freddy Mercury, are genuine, but others are absurd. > [@GGM](#): > > “Superman? He’s Indian. Terrible suit? Indian. NHS glasses? Indian. Has to work at two jobs? Indian. And look at his name. Kalel - Indian!” The [recent thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=321227) in which **Argent Towers** asks whether the Starsky character in S&H was supposed to be Jewish reminded me of something I read in the Jerusalem Post in the 70s, when S&H first ruled. It was, according to the article, a well-known fact that Paul Michael Glaser was Jewish, but did people realise that David Soul was in fact really called David Soulberg and was known amongst his friends as ‘the blond blintz’? Unless it is proven fact, this sounded to me like some sort of spoof on the way some minorities try so hard to appropriate even the most unlikely celebrities. A relative of mine once tried to persuade me that all four Beatles were Jewish. Many gay friends are similarly obsessed. Any such examples come to mind? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/2 "2005-06-19T15:54:12Z")
Everyone thinks that most Canadian celebrities are American. Or British. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/3 "2005-06-19T18:12:17Z")
David soul was born David \*\*Solberg \*\* and is the son and brother of Lutheran ministers. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/4 "2005-06-19T18:20:04Z")
> [@Martha](#): > > Brits especially will be familiar with the recurring skit in ‘Goodness Gracious Me’ where the Indian Dad lists celebrities and claims they are Indian. Some, like Cliff Richard and **Freddy Mercury** , are genuine, but others are absurd. Freddie Mercury was born in [Zanzibar](http://www.freddie.ru:8082/e/bio/), and was of the [Zoastrian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mercury) religion. ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/5 "2005-06-19T18:20:54Z")
Another win in the battle against ignorance! Even if it is over twenty years too late… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/6 "2005-06-19T18:28:57Z")
Previous post was in reply to **Dr Rieux**. > [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > Freddie Mercury was born in [Zanzibar](http://www.freddie.ru:8082/e/bio/), and was of the [Zoastrian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mercury) religion. **Zabali** , there has always been some confusion about Freddie Mercury’s origins but the[accepted version](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddy_Mercury) is that his parents were originally from India, and the family went back there when he was a child. > [@](#): > > There is often confusion among fans over Freddie’s ethnic and racial heritage. Many believe Freddie to be of mixed English caucasian and Persian ancestry, or just Persian/Iranian. The fact is that many Zoroastrian Parsees, who fled Persia because of the Muslim invasion and settled in India for hundreds of years, have been long assimilated into the Indian population. Freddie’s birth certificate also notes that he was Indian. Freddy Mercury? INDIAN! ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/7 "2005-06-19T18:36:14Z")
**Martha** , what I said is still technically correct as to where he was born. I never said he wasn’t also Indian. I was pointing out that he could claim more than one national heritage. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/8 "2005-06-19T18:44:01Z")
His parents were probably Parsis. There are many of them in Gujarat & Bombay. They are a very affluent community. I read somewhere that Ben Kingsley is an Anglo-Indian whose non-stage name was Krishna Bhanji but never followed up on it. He certainly does have that desi shnozz, though. I know that Uma Thurman is completely Caucasian but she has the most Konkanasth brahmin (a particular Marathi community with blue-grey eyes) features I’ve ever seen. Give the girl a creamy tan and some black hair and she could easily pass with the last name Joshi. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/9 "2005-06-19T18:51:55Z")
Danny Thomas and Ralph Nader are both children of Lebanese immigrants, IIRK. Can’t tell if the OP is looking for true cases, or false ones. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/10 "2005-06-19T21:12:33Z")
New Jersey native Kenneth Dickerson (acting under the name “Khigh Dhiegh”), who played “Wo Fat” in the “Hawaii Five-O” tv series liked “eastern philosophy” so much that he changed his name to to make it more “Oriental” in appearance. His actual ancestry was English and Sudanese. However, he didn’t actually claim to be Chinese. He just didn’t talk about his true ethnic heritage. I know several people with American Indian blood who thought that Jewish Ed Ames was a true American Indian. (Curious Johnny Carson remark: “I didn’t even know you were Jewish!” Obviously, he did. Maybe it was just for the bris joke.) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/11 "2005-06-19T21:17:31Z")
> [@anu-la1979](#): > > I read somewhere that Ben Kingsley is an Anglo-Indian whose non-stage name was Krishna Bhanji but never followed up on it. He certainly does have that desi shnozz, though. > **[Ben Kingsley - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001426/bio)** > > Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji on December 31, 1943 in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was a Kenyan-born ... Lists his birth name as Krishna Bhanji, yep. > [@](#): > > Is of half Indian and half English descent. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was a Kenyan-born physician of Indian descent while his mother, Anna Lyna Mary Bhanji, was an English-born fashion model of Jewish-European extraction. > > Ben Kingsley’s paternal family was from the Indian state of Gujarat, the same state Mahatma Gandhi was from. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/12 "2005-06-19T22:00:37Z")
Dinah Shore has long been “claimed” by black Americans. It is commonly believed that the woman passed as white. There is a rumor that she had a black-looking baby and sued her mother for not informing her of her heritage. I think this rumor is rather incredible, but looking at her [pictures](http://www.obits.com/shoredinah.jpg), I do wonder… Other celebrities that have been suspected of hiding their “blackness”: Babe Ruth J. Edgar Hoover Vin Dinsel ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/13 "2005-06-19T22:05:02Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > Everyone thinks that most Canadian celebrities are American. Or British. That’s because Canada is… Canada! Who would think anything other than cold wind comes out of that place? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/14 "2005-06-20T00:37:27Z")
I still can’t believe the asians got the wu tang clan. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/15 "2005-06-20T00:56:32Z")
Me. I’m 1/8th Cherokee. So there. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/16 "2005-06-20T01:02:12Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Other celebrities that have been suspected of hiding their “blackness”: > > Vin Dinsel I thought that wasn’t a secret, unless whoever wrote his [IMDb biography](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004874/bio) is trying to “out” him. (Scroll down to the trivia section.) ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/17 "2005-06-20T01:03:02Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > Freddie Mercury was born in [Zanzibar](http://www.freddie.ru:8082/e/bio/), and was of the [Zoastrian](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mercury) religion. That’s my line! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/18 "2005-06-20T01:11:55Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > [snip] > Other celebrities that have been suspected of hiding their “blackness”: > > J. Edgar Hoover > [snip] I thought that J. Edgar Hoover hid the fact that he was _gay_, you mean to tell me he was also hiding the fact that he was black? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/19 "2005-06-20T02:21:25Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > That’s because Canada is… Canada! Who would think anything other than cold wind comes out of that place? 😃 I prefer to be thought of as a breath of fresh air. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920/20 "2005-06-20T02:24:00Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > **Martha** , what I said is still technically correct as to where he was born. I never said he wasn’t also Indian. I was pointing out that he could claim more than one national heritage. Fair enough. > [@JKellyMap](#): > > Can’t tell if the OP is looking for true cases, or false ones. My focus is not so much on the celebs themselves, but on any minority group that for whatever reason has decided that the celeb in question - rightly or wrongly - is one of theirs. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliff-richard-indian-and-other-ethnic-minority-celebrity-appropriations/308920.md?page=2)